Primarily driven by the Salmon rec fishers target most; Chinook & Coho:
If all one is interested in is the survival of existing wild Salmon runs, then hatcheries are bad. If all one is interested in is more fish to catch or having it be OK to destroy the environment then hatcheries are bad. Two extremes with lot's of middle ground opinions. The "we can build a dam & put a hatchery below the dam" started on the Columbia river in the mid 1800's. Got us into trouble. Dams are an example of many types of environmental damage. The "we can pump out millions of hatchery fish and allow large harvests of both abundant hatchery fish mixed-in with small numbers of scarce wild fish" is where we are at today. Down here in Puget Sound rec fishers can only retain hatchery fish, & the only commercial harvest is by the tribes, so w/o hatcheries we would have no rec fishing. The total catch of hatchery fish is determined by how many incidental mortalities of wild fish while releasing them can be tolerated. This practice is not working; looks like habitat restoration is required.
If all one is interested in is the survival of existing wild Salmon runs, then hatcheries are bad. If all one is interested in is more fish to catch or having it be OK to destroy the environment then hatcheries are bad. Two extremes with lot's of middle ground opinions. The "we can build a dam & put a hatchery below the dam" started on the Columbia river in the mid 1800's. Got us into trouble. Dams are an example of many types of environmental damage. The "we can pump out millions of hatchery fish and allow large harvests of both abundant hatchery fish mixed-in with small numbers of scarce wild fish" is where we are at today. Down here in Puget Sound rec fishers can only retain hatchery fish, & the only commercial harvest is by the tribes, so w/o hatcheries we would have no rec fishing. The total catch of hatchery fish is determined by how many incidental mortalities of wild fish while releasing them can be tolerated. This practice is not working; looks like habitat restoration is required.